Containers, as described herein, include, for example, bottles, cans, tubes, pouches, being made from metal, glass and/or plastic. Such containers include PET bottles and other packaging elements, in particular those that are suitable for the filling of liquid or viscous products, and containers already combined into groups, i.e. multipack groups of containers.
Such containers often have a spherically arched contact region. Because of the shape of this contact region, containers can roll off against one another around a peripheral path, i.e. at a “roll-off ring.” With glass bottles that have been used many times, this can be seen, for example, from the wear ring that is usually recognizable in bright accentuation. In the case of PET bottles such “roll-off rings” can be arranged not only in the head region but in the foot region also.
In detail, the production of the packs is effected e.g. in the manner that the containers are fed standing on a transport plane of a transporter and with their container axis oriented in vertical or essentially vertical direction in a bulk transport or in a wide container stream in which the containers are randomly oriented in regard to distinctive container features and/or configuration features. This wide container stream is then converted into a plurality of single-track container streams by lane division. The compartmentalizing of the containers that form the subsequent packs or their container groups from the single-track container streams, the bringing together of the necessary number of containers to form a compacted container group in which the containers lie against one another by a plurality of envelope or peripheral surfaces, i.e. by the contact or touching surfaces, and the connecting of the containers of each container group to form the compact and firm or stable pack, are carried out in further process steps.
The combining or forming of a plurality of articles into a group of articles and from the groups of articles to produce firm and/or transportable storage and transport units or packs using shrink films (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,464) is known to the skilled person. One of the disadvantages of this is that the films used, and in particular the shrinking-on of the films by the application of heat or energy, causes considerable expense.
It has already been proposed to produce transportable packs by the containers that are formed to a container group being packed, i.e. connected together into a pack, by a strapping that encompasses the container group in the manner of a loop (DE 10 2009 025 824, DE 10 2009 044 271, DE 41 26 212), this constituting a particularly inexpensive and simple way of producing packs or transport and storage units. The strapping can also be bonded with the containers.
One disadvantage of the strapping, however, is that when one container is first removed from such a bundle, the strapping can no longer hold together the containers remaining in the bundle. This is the case not only when the strapping is removed or cut but also when a container is taken from the pack without severing the strapping.
Moreover transporting such packs on a belt conveyor presents the danger that cylindrical or chiefly cylindrical articles, such as cans, bottles or containers, assume a nesting position, i.e. slip into a gap in the adjacent row, due to vibration, impacts etc. With known packs, a very high tension must be applied to the strapping in order to avoid this.
DE 10 2006 037 105, on the other hand, relates to a method for the combining of bottle packets in which a rotary star wheel, which presses bottle necks into clips on flat carriers, is provided on both sides of a track. The bottle packet is also wrapped with a tape or an envelope (film).
According to DE 23 31 193, an adhesive is applied to containers in narrow surfaces or rows, with contiguous surfaces that are not provided with adhesive being intended to facilitate a gripping of the packing for carrying purposes. The containers stick to one another at the adhesive points. EP 2 096 039 also relates to containers being provided with an adhesive. However, a shrink film remains disposed around the bottle packet.